


an awful danger

by the_speed_reader



Category: Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M, Near Death Experience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-06-01 01:32:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6495529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_speed_reader/pseuds/the_speed_reader
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnus reaches out, brushing a bit of hair out of Alec’s face. “Darling,” he murmurs, feeling his heart clench with grief. “Why do you do this to me?” / Alec gets hurt. Magnus panics.</p>
            </blockquote>





	an awful danger

**Author's Note:**

> Here's another one! This one is slightly longer. Thank you so much for all of your responses to my last fic. I'm literally screaming with happiness.

Magnus had fallen in love many times over his lifetime; fallen prey to the will of pretty boys and pretty girls, who all broke his heart in the end – and a broken heart was never _fun_ to deal with, after all. Time and time again, Magnus had sought to protect himself from love, the very thing that was supposed to bring ultimate happiness.

Love never did work very well for those who were doomed to outlive it.

Then he met Alexander Lightwood, and found his heart captive once more. Magnus hoped that this wouldn’t end like all the others – with devastating heartbreak, that is. But dating a shadowhunter…oh, Magnus knew better, but he couldn’t stay away.

But then came the day that Alexander Lightwood stumbled up to his doorstep, leaning heavily on Isabelle, pale as a ghost and soaked in blood, and collapsed – rather dramatically, Magnus might add – in his arms, and Magnus’ heart sank to the pit of his stomach.

Magnus caught the other boy with a soft grunt, his heart beating faster. “ _Alexander_.” The other boy’s name catches in his throat as fear spirals up his spine. “What – darling, what _happened_?” Magnus jerks his head up to look at Isabelle, who is nearly as pale as her brother, although with no visible injuries.

Alec looks up at Magnus, his eyes wide with fear – an element that Magnus had rarely seen from the young shadowhunter before. “Shax demon,” Alex gasps, and Magnus’ mind flashes to something terrible – Ragnor Fell, dying in his arms, a gap the size of Magnus’ arm slashed into his neck…

Magnus lowers them to the concrete, his knees nearly buckling with panic; he lowers Alec’s head onto his thigh, pillowing it there. He sweeps his love’s body, searching for wounds; his eyes catch on a nasty gash on Alec’s left side, blood seeping from the wound, as well as a few claw marks on his neck. But the wound – that was what was worrying him.

Alec moans. “ _Magnus_ ,” he murmurs, his breath catching. He coughs, blood flowing from the wound on his side. Magnus brushes his hand over the wound, his fingers sparking blue and red as he whispers a string of words, a healing spell that could be used to stop the bleeding and – if he did it correctly – seal the wound.

Alec whimpers, and Magnus’ heart _hurts_. “Oh darling,” he whispers as Alec’s skin begins to knit itself back together. “How do you get yourself into these messes?” But he knows – he always knows, but he brushes that thought away. This wasn’t the time.

“I–” Alec starts, but he stops, his chest seizing as he begins gasping for breath. Magnus feels his heart seize in his chest and he jerks his hand, moving it again over Alec’s chest, fingers sparking.

“Breathe, Alexander,” Magnus pleads. “Please, darling, _breathe._ ”

The second spell works, and Alec’s chest falls, his eyes squeezing shut as he turns his face, his nose pressing against Magnus’ belt. It suddenly dawns on Magnus that he should get Alec inside the apartment, but he’s hesitant to move him.

Isabelle speaks then, and Magnus jerks his head up – he’d forgotten that she was there. “We – there were too many of them,” she chokes out, and he can see the glint of tears on her cheeks. “I wasn’t paying attention, and Alec took the blow. By the Angel,” Isabelle swears. Magnus had never seen her so upset. “Is he going to be alright?”

“Magnus,” Alec whispers, and Magnus looks down again. He can see the glimmering of tears on Alec’ cheeks, a mirror image of his sister. This shocks Magnus; he stares for a moment, as if unable to comprehend what was happening. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Alec cry – or if he’d _ever_ seen him cry. Alec was normally so stoic, so good at hiding his emotions, unable to let anyone in.

Magnus can’t remember the last time he felt this desperate, but at the sight of tears he snaps up, forcing himself to focus. “Alexander,” Magnus murmurs. “I’m going to put you to sleep now, alright darling? You’ll be in less pain.”

Alec looks at him with pleading eyes, but another shock skirts through his body – a reaction to his wound healing, and he doesn’t answer. It’s Isabelle that speaks up, answering for him: “Do it.”

Magnus snaps his fingers, and Alec goes completely limp, his head lolling. Magnus grits his teeth, fighting to keep tears from spilling onto his own face. Now wasn’t the time to be emotional; he had to get Alec inside and set him up properly, to make sure he healed correctly.

He glances up at Isabelle again. She’s nearly hysterical, her breath catching. “Are you hurt?” He asks, sweeping her form. Her clothes are ripped in various places, but his initial assessment proves to be correct; she appears to be unharmed.

She shakes her head. “I’m fine,” she says, her voice almost down to a whisper. She’s wringing her hands. “But Alec–”

“–will be fine,” Magnus finishes. “But I do need to get him up to the apartment.”

Magnus motions for her to help him as he stands up, his knees shaking as he slips a hand underneath Alec’s shoulder and across his back. Isabelle mirrors his motion, and they slowly get Alec to his feet – he’s deadweight though, and Magnus snaps his fingers. A low humming sound buzzes around his ears before Alec is suddenly a lot lighter, a warm glow gathering itself around Alec’s body, helping them to carry him. A second snap of his fingers opens the door, and they carefully bring Alec through. Taking him up the stairs was tough – if Alec got even more injured in this state Magnus would never forgive himself – but they manage, getting Alex up the stairs and though the door with relative ease.

Magnus and Isabelle lower Alec’s body onto Magnus’ bed; a wave of fatigue sweeps over Magnus, but he fights it. He sweeps his eyes over Alec once more, and does it a second time just to be sure. Magnus reaches out, brushing a bit of hair out of Alec’s face. “Darling,” he murmurs, feeling his heart clench with grief. “Why do you do this to me?”

The other boy is still pale, but is regaining some color on his cheeks. Magnus peeks down at the wound; the skin is nearly finished knitting itself together, and Magnus makes a mental note to mix up a potion that would relieve Alec of some more of the pain. Even with the skin healed together, the wound would still be fragile for the next few days or so.

Alec moans in his sleep, and Magnus’ eyes snap to his face. “Izzy,” Alec whispers. “Magnus…”

“I’m here, Alexander,” Magnus replies softly, moving to cup Alec’s cheek with his palm, brushing away the tears with his thumb. “I’m here.”

Another wave of tiredness threatens him and his hand shakes, but he shakes his head sharply. He needs to stay awake. He looks over at Isabelle, who is hovering behind him; she had begun wringing her wrists again, a clear sign of stress. “Isabelle,” he states, and she jerks her gaze from Alec to look at him. Her eyes are wide, her hair falling out of its braid. “Was there anyone else with you?”

She shakes her head. “Just Alec and me,” she provides. “Jace was out with Clary, and Hodge–“ she breaks off for a moment, as if forgetting what had happened to Hodge. “It was just us who got the warning. _Iratze_ wasn’t working fast enough and I tried to take us home, but Alec wouldn’t let me. He just kept saying your name over and over and over again. He – by the Angel, he _saved_ me, Magnus.” Her voice was rising in hysterics again.

Magnus swallows thickly. He’d never been very good at comfort – after all, who wanted a warlock to comfort them? – but he stands up anyway, enveloping Isabelle in a hug. In her heels, she was just about his height.

He looks over Isabelle’s shoulder at Alec. Alec’s breathing is still unsteady, but otherwise, save from his ripped clothes, he looks as though he could be sleeping peacefully.

_But he isn’t_ , a not-so-nice voice in his head nudges him. A harsh breath slips from his lips; he pulls away from Isabelle, but keeps his hands curled around her shoulders. “You should go home, my dear,” he says. “I won’t leave Alex – and you need to report back to your parents.”

Isabelle’s eyes flash angrily up at him. “I’m not leaving him,” she replies sharply. “He’s my brother, and he’s hurt.” She scoffs. “And besides, its not like they’d care anyway.”

“Isabelle,” Magnus chides, but he can feel the healing magic sapping away at his energy, stealing away his ability to form a proper argument. “Of _course_ they care,” he says, but he can hear the doubt in his own voice. Parents should care about their children, but after everything that had happened to the Lightwood family, Magnus is unsure of Maryse and Robert’s feelings. With both of their children dating downworlders and one of them having come out as gay, it was unclear how they would react to this situation. “And they are still parents – and leaders of the Institute – and they need to know what has happened,” Magnus finishes, shaking the threads of doubt away from his mind. Now wasn’t the time to contemplate the relationships in the Lightwood family; although, who was he to judge? His own mother killed herself to get away from him, and his mundane father had tried to drown him.

Isabelle slips from his grasp, turning to look back at her brother. Magnus can nearly see the wheels in her head turning, torn between responsibility and staying. She looks back at him. “Do you promise that he’ll be alright?” she asks.

Magnus holds out his pinkie. “I pinkie promise,” he solemnly says, and a slight smile cracks onto her features.

“Warlocks,” Isabelle admonishes, but there’s warmth in her voice. She pulls out her braid, twisting her hair into a long ponytail instead. She nods at him. “Thank you,” she says quietly, taking once last look at her brother.

“I won’t leave him,” Magnus says, and he feels that promise at the core of his heart.

Isabelle steps towards the door, her heels clicking against the wood, glancing back one last time before she disappears through the entry way. The moment she’s gone, and Magnus can hear the click of the door, he sinks next to Alec on the bed, wiping sweat from his brow. Healing magic had always been his weak point, although he’d never admit it.

Magnus curls up next to Alec, pressing their palms together and intertwining their fingers. He settles his head on the pillow, curving his face down so his nose is pressed against Alec’s shoulder; he’s careful not to put too much weight otherwise on the other boy. Alec turns in his sleep, reacting to Magnus’ touch. His mouth moves, but no sound other than a soft breath comes out.

With a snap of his fingers, a blanket settles over them, and Magnus can feel sleep gently catching him in its grip. He stretches his other hand over Alec’s chest, laying it on his heart; Alec’s heartbeat is strong and Magnus relaxes, eyes fluttering as he falls prey to sleep, taking comfort in the fact that Alec was going to be all right. 

/

Magnus wakes to the sound of a slight cough, and he jerks up instantly, the blanket falling from his shoulders. He curves himself over Alec’s body, watching as the other boy’s eyes flutter open.

“Alec,” Magnus urges, moving his hand out to cup Alec’s cheek. “Darling, can you hear me?”

Another cough, this one sending a shiver through Alec’s body. Magnus feels panic shoot up his spine. _He was supposed to be alright, he was supposed to be alright, he was supposed to be –_

Alec’s eyes flash open – his beautiful, beautiful brown eyes. “By the Angel,” Alec gasps, his eyes wide with astonishment. “What _happened_?”

Magnus feels relief flood through him. “That expression is so quaint,” Magnus teases, and draws himself back. But his mind switches back to the realities of the past day or so, and his mood harshens a bit. “You nearly _died_.”

“I feel like someone stabbed me. Multiple times.”

“That’s because someone – or, rather, _something_ – did.” Magnus hesitates. “Do you remember anything?”

Alec shakes his head, but in the next moment he’s jerking up. His face consorts in pain, but he still continues to look wildly around. Magnus pushes him back down. “Isabelle,” Alec calls out, and then his gaze darts back to Magnus. “Where’s–“

“She’s fine,” Magnus says, and can see Alec visibly relax. “I made her go back to the Institute. She needed to report in…” His voice trails off, and he glances at the clock beside the bed. It had only been a few hours since she had left and Magnus had fallen asleep. Magnus glances back at Alec. “I’m glad you’re alright, darling,” he murmurs, reaching out to brush his thumb against Alec’s cheek. “You scared me.”

A slight blush appears on Alec’s cheeks, but he smiles weakly back up at Magnus. “Oh c’mon,” Alec jokes. “It wasn’t that bad.”

Magnus expression darkens. “It was,” he snaps, but then winces. “Sorry. It’s been – a long few hours.”

Alec reaches out, curling their fingers together. “I’m fine,” he reminds him. “A demon can't take me away from you _that_ easily, alright?”

Magnus looks at him, returning a soft smile, but he’s careful to conceal the worry creeping through him. “Alright,” Magnus hears himself echoing. He leans down, peppering kisses on Alec’s lips, nose, and cheeks. Alec squirms, color returning to his cheeks.

“Magnus,” Alec says, pushing him away half-heartedly, and Magnus laughs.

He had fallen in love with this boy – and he was in an awful danger of getting his heart broken.


End file.
